I was given a big welcome by the children in Mrs White’s class yesterday. They have just started learning about Anglo-Saxon history and found my talk on Anglo-Saxon and Norse Mythology very interesting. In my talk, I explain the links with nature, as well as how mythology influenced the Anglo-Saxon culture. Also, everyone loves goblins! I was told my sketch of a goblin was the best ever – so I’m sure the class will be keen to draw their own goblins and make up their own mythical creatures, with descriptions, to go up on display.

The children wanted to know my favourite author and my favourite book. I found that ‘The Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton, my favourite as a child, was still very popular. Other questions were - How long I had taken to write my book?Was I was proud of it? And, which of my books did I like the best? The answer to the last question is - I like them all, because I really enjoyed writing them ... but my first book has to be my favourite because that’s where it all started, both for me and for Izzy’s adventure - you can find a hint of where the adventure leads in my ‘Books Section’ (or follow the link).

My visit finished with an assembly for the whole school where I spoke about my journey to publication. The head teacher, Mrs Noble, asked the children who liked to read and quite a few hands went up. But when she asked the children who liked to write – every hand in the room shot up. So I am sure there will be lots of entries for the BBC’s ‘500Words Competition’ from Beaulieu School.